Clean diesel uptake in the US is becoming increasingly more noticeable every time we do one of these sales roundup articles. This time, we’re announcing healthy double digit increases that round out to around 25 percent, for the first six months of 2014. The numbers were even greater than the average in March (39.5 percent increase), April (60.4 percent increase) and May (26.8 percent).
The fuel has been gaining a lot of ground, recording growth for 43 of the last 47 months, of which 31 boasted double-digit rises.
This seems to be having a direct result on hybrid sales, which, in the first six months of 2014, only went up in May, by a measly 6.6 percent, while the biggest recorded drop for these vehicles was in February, when a 23.9 percent slump was noted.
The Diesel Technology forum put together this information from various sources, with its Executive Director, Allen Schaeffer, stating the following:
“The consistently positive sales trends for clean diesel are particularly noteworthy since they have occurred over a recessionary economic period when diesel fuel prices have trended upward, and consumers have many more fuel efficient vehicle choices than ever before. Today, the clean diesel choices include 27 cars and SUVs, nine vans and 10 pickup trucks. We expect that number to nearly double in the next 18 months, and we expect that more models in more brands will only generate higher sales in the future.”
“While diesel cars and pickup trucks make up only three percent of the overall U.S. vehicle market, most analysts predict continued growth in the U.S., with many believing the diesel market will double by 2018,” Schaeffer conceded.
By Andrei Nedelea
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